South Korean dignitary to speak at Hancock

The former prime minister, USC alum, to focus on education

By April Haitsuka
Staff Writer

Education is a main factor that will help a nation develop under democratic rule, and this ethic propelled South Korea into greater international prominence, said elder Korean statesman and USC alumnus Young-Hoon Kang.
The former prime minister of South Korea will speak about "Why College Matters: the Perspective of a Statesman and Diplomat," today in Hancock Auditorium at 12 p.m.
Kang served a term as prime minister of the country from 1988 to 1990, a transitional period to democracy, following the rule of an oppressive military regime.
The military coup that overturned the country's democratic government in 1961 sparked Kang's interest in international relations and promoting democratic government. The regime asked Kang, who was a soldier in the South Korean army at the time, to step down from his position and jailed him for four months after he refused to support the new government.
"I was interested why this was so, and how to recover democratic rule," Kang said.
Kang left South Korea on a sponsorship from the U.S. Department of Defense to study at the University of New Mexico. During his studies, he heard about the new programs in political development and international relations at USC from a friend and received a fellowship to pursue a graduate degree the next year.
He completed his master's degree in 1966 and his doctorate in 1972 from the USC School of International Relations.
"Democratic rule is based on people's initiative and consciousness," Kang said. "Without education, I think it's almost impossible to rule democratically."
Koreans who study abroad have helped the country by bringing back knowledge, technological skills, a world view and a love for democracy which has helped the country's productivity, he said.
"Korea, in the past, we ignored the outside world," Kang said. "I wanted to know to survive. Nations should know what's going on in the outside world."
South Korea is known as one of the Four Tigers, a group that includes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. These newly-industrialized Asian countries are marked for their fast economic development after World War II, with economies based on exporting raw materials for industrial use. Over the past 34 years, the Gross National Product per capita in South Korea increased from $82 per person to $10,000 per person.
The end of World War II found Korea free from Japanese colonial rule, but the country was split between the United States and the Soviet Union for direction in developing self-rule.
Kang believes the diametrically opposed politics of communist North Korea and democratic South Korea have discouraged attempts to open communications channels between the two countries.
"Cold War relations have ended, but still the North Korean Communist regime sticks to the old, ideological position," Kang said.
Kang believes the Communist government operates "at the expense of the people's welfare."
Born in North Korea, Kang observed the Soviet-directed government of the country after World War II, including food shortages and poor standards of living. He and other North Koreans fled through the south border to escape authoritarian rule.
Although prospects for unification are not that encouraging, Kang believes it is a nationalistic imperative.
"The Korean people have been a homogeneous people for centuries," he said. "To be divided in two parts is unnatural. Every Korean wants to see the country unified again."